Southern Heart
by EM Vought
Summary: The Story of Rogue and her best friend, Louisa, being told in flashbacks while Rogue is travelling.
1. Chapter 1

There was giggling coming from Marie's room and Mrs. D'Ancanto smiled. Ever since the Isaac's had moved in next-door Marie and Louisa had been thick as thieves. Marie's little 'boyfriend' had come over and Mrs. D'Ancanto was making them all lunch.

"Oh, this is going to be such fun! Road trip!" Louisa laughed. Her and Marie had come up with the idea weeks before of going on a trip someday together, all over the world. Wherever the wanted to go and they would plan out a way to get there.

Marie giggled. "Road trip!"

Cody just chuckled at the two girls. "Potty trip!" Louisa said rushing out of the room and Marie collapsed on the bed laughing. Cody moved over her leaning down and kissing her. She was a little surprised, they had never kissed before, but that didn't mean she didn't want to. She kissed him back until he started convulsing and she could feel him inside her head. Marie screamed. Louisa rushed into the room as Marie backed up into the wall staring wide-eyed.

Mr. D'Ancanto and his wife hurried in. "Call and ambulance!" Louisa told them as she leaned over Cody on the bed trying to keep him calm and not hurt himself. Mr. D'Ancanto left the room and Mrs. D'Ancanto went to Marie.

"Don't touch me!" She said hysterically. "Don't touch me!"

Marie left town soon after being practically run out. The only person she truly regretted leaving was Louisa, who had stayed with her throughout it all. She just left hoping Louisa would understand.

Marie watched from the living room window as the family moved in next door. She practically jumped with joy when she saw a girl her age out there moving boxes and helping and teasing a man with blonde hair. He grabbed her by the waist tickling her until she cried uncle. A woman came out telling the two to stop fooling around. She looked so much like the girl it was obviously her mother. An older man came out of the moving truck carrying some boxes and laughed seeing the two before telling them to get back to work.

"New neighbors, Marie?" Mrs. D'Ancanto asked pulling back the lacey curtains her daughter was peaking through. "Well, looks like there's a girl yer age, pumpkin. You should go over and say 'hey'."

"Oh, Ah couldn't, Mom." Marie said wide-eyed. "She'd just think Ah was a geek or somethin'."

"Oh, don't be ridiculous, sweetheart, come on, now, Ah'll go with yeh."

"Really, Mom!" She tried to dissuade her, but it did no good. She packed up a housewarming gift of cookies and dragged Marie over.

Marie stood shyly by her mother as the attractive older brunette came to the door. "Well, hi there." She said smiling. "Nice of you all to come over. I'm Ellie Isaacs."

"Anne D'Ancanto." Marie's mom said shaking Ellie's hand. "And this is my daughter, Marie."

"Hello, Marie you must be about ma daughter Louisa's age. Louisa!"

The girl appeared around the corner of the house shrieking, the blonde man hot on her heels. He tackled her just before they got to the women, rolling around like two dogs. "Yes, Mama?" Lou asked still wrestling.

"Well, this is ma daughter, Louisa, and ma son, James. Say hello, you two."

"Ladies, a pleasure," James said pinning his sister and looking up grinning cheekily at them.

Louisa looked up smiling. "Hi there."

"You'll have to excuse them, they're not made for polite company."

"Ah, come on, Ma, we're just foolin' 'round." He got up pulling Lou up with him. "Ain't we, Sug?"

"Yuppers," the petite girl said. "Come on." She grabbed Marie's hand leading her into the house.


	2. Chapter 2

Rogue, as Marie now called herself, sat in a truck stop looking at a picture of her and Lou taken a few weeks before she left. Louisa's arms were around her and they were hugging, their faces turned to the camera grinning.

"This is the best idea eva!" Marie said as she and Louisa tacked a map up on her wall.

"Now we can actually see out trip around the world planned out!" Lou said giddily. "A little lower on yer side…perfect." They put in the tacks.

"Where to first?"

"CANADA!" They said in unison.

Well, she was in Canada now, but no Louisa by her side. "This would be more fun with you here, Lou." She said wistfully staring at the picture. "Ah miss you."

"Hey, kid, you want a ride?"

She looked up at the burly woman driver, "Yeah, sure."

"Where ya headed, darlin'?"

"Don't matter none." Rogue said.

"Hop in." She said opening the door of her rig for the girl.

George Strait came on the radio as they drove. 'Heartland'. Rogue began to softly sing along. The woman smirked and turned it up belting it out herself.

Marie worked backstage at the school talent show watching from behind the curtain while Louisa was on stage singing a medley of song. All pure country: 'Redneck Woman', 'Bumper of my SUV', 'God Bless the USA', and 'Boondocks'.

"For my last selection, ladies and gentlemen, I'm going to need some help. Marie D'Ancanto."

'NO!' Marie mouthed as one of the teachers nudged her out there. She didn't even know what they were singing. Then the strains of 'Heartland' began to play and she relaxed. This was their song.

"When you hear twin fiddles and a steel guitar…" Louisa started singing in her contralto.

"Yer listenin' to the sound of the American heart." Marie came in, in her lovely alto.

"And Opry music on a Saturday night brings a smile to your face and a tear to your eye…"

"Sing a son about the heartland, the only place Ah feel at home."

"Sing about the way a good man, works until the daylight's gone."

"Sing the rain on the roof on a summer night, where they still know wrong from right."

"Sing a song about the heartland. Sing a song about my life."

"There's a place where the mornin's are an endless blue,"

"And you feel mother nature walk along with you…"

"Where simple people livin' side by side still wave to their neighbor when they're drivin' by…" Marie was getting more into this.

There were whoops from James in the audience and that relaxed her even more. James made her feel comfortable. He was familiar.

Louis continued. "Sing a song about the heartland, the only place I feel at home."

"Sing about the way a good man works until the daylight's gone…"

"Sing the rain on the roof on a summer night, where they still know wrong from right."

They sang the last sentence together. "Sing a song about the heartland, sing a song about my life!"

It was comforting singing along to 'Heartland' now and she felt like that, wherever Louisa was, she was still her friend, still thinking about her.


	3. Chapter 3

Truck stop after struck stop, cold, snowy day after cold snowy day, she sat at a bar drinking water while a cage fight was going on. She pulled her coat further around her.

"Ok, just plant your feet on the end of the board." Louisa said. They were both standing on the diving boards at the pool. Marie stared at the water untrustingly, but she planet her feet. "Bend your knees." She didn't like this. "Arms over your head."

"Ah look ridiculous."

"And spring off." Louisa made it look so easy.

Marie sighed and launched herself off. She pulled off a spectacular back flop. She came up spluttering. "Not bad, Sassafras." She looked up and saw James standing there with a towel around his neck. He helped her out of the pool. "Time to go, girls." He said leaning down and picking his sister up under the arms pulling her out of the pool. "Go get changed."

James met the girls outside pulling up his truck. They got in and stared home. He took out a cigarette and looked around for his lighter. "Damn, where'd it go?"

"It's under your feet, I'll get it." Louisa said getting down in front of the seat as a police car turned on it's light's behind them. James waited until she got back in her seat before pulling over. He reached into his pocket for his license.

"Marie, get the registration from the glove box." He told her.

"Sir, get out of the car."

"What?" James asked turning to the young police officer standing outside his door.

"I said get out of the car." He drew his gun.

James got out as the other one opened the other door pulling the girls out the other side. "Damn, Hoss, what the hell?" He looked over towards the girls. "Hey, keep yer damn hands off of her!" He warned the policeman holding onto Louisa's arm.

He was read his rights and handcuffed. The policeman took the girls off to the side. "Do your parents know you're taking rides from older men?"

"Uh…yeah…" Louisa said.

"And they don't care?"

"Why would they?"

"What did he ask you to do?"

"He asked me to get the registration out of the glove box." Marie said shrugging.

"Why were you out of sigh, miss?" He asked Louisa.

"James dropped his lighter." She said holding it up.

"Is that what he told you his name was?"

"Hey, look, you idiot with a gun," Louisa growled. "His name is James Ford and he's ma brother, so don't even give me that shit! You'd better hope you have even one shred of evidence against him, cuz, if not, I'm gonna bury you alive!"

"Are you threatenin' me?" He asked incredulously.

"You threatened him!" Louisa said pointing towards James.

"Louisa!" Marie tried to get her to shut up.

"No! They pulled us over, took him from the truck at gunpoint, and they expect me to be all complacent?" She looked at the officer. "Go to hell!"

"I've never arrested a kid before," He warned her, "But so help me…"

"Ah can't believe ya jumped a cop!" Marie said her head in her hands, glancing at her friend in handcuffs.

Louisa shrugged. "He hit James."

"Where's my son and daughter?"

Marie and Louisa looked up to see Ellie, mad as hell, sauntering in. "Ma'am, you can't just barge in her making demands." One officer told her.

"Someone just arrested my son, unlawfully, believing him to be a pedophile, and you're tellin' me what my rights are?"

Ellie Isaacs was a force you didn't want to reckon with. She was there ten minutes before all charges were dropped and James, Louisa, and Marie were free to go.

Rogue smiled at the memory. God, they had had a laugh over that…a few weeks later. She got up and went to the phone positioned at the end of the bar against the wall. She was halfway through dialing when there was a disturbance. She turned around in time to see a man shoot claws out of his knuckles and slash a shotgun being held by the bartender, into little pieces.

The man left and Rogue followed him, hoping he might help her since he was a mutant as well. She slipped under a tarp covering his trailer hauled by a truck. One way to catch a ride even if he didn't help her.


	4. Chapter 4

Marie wondered why Louisa was so sad. The girl just sat by the window looking out of it. She went over and sat on the window seat across from her friend. "What's wrong?" She asked softly.

"James is gone." Louisa sighed. "He always does this." Tears welled up in her eyes. "I don't see why he always has to leave. He tells me I'm the most important thing in his life and then he leaves."

"Ah, Lou, ya know ya are." She said comfortingly. "The sun rises and sets with ya as far as he's concerned."

Louisa drew her knees up to her chest crying. Marie had never seen Louisa cry before. She was a tough girl. She didn't even cry when she had to get stitches on her arm. The scar was still there running vertically from her shoulder.

"How 'bout some ice cream?"

Louisa smiled a little. "Ok."

The truck slowed and stopped and Rogue was jerked out of sleep by the tarp being thrown back. "What are you doin'?" The man asked her.

"I thought you might help me."

"I ain't a charity service, kid. Out." She got out sighing and he redid the tarp and got back into his truck. She watched him drive a few feet and then stopped. She hurried and got in.

He started driving again looking mad with himself. "Ya cold kid?" He turned the heat on. Rogue took off her gloves and he reached over to put her hands next to it. She yanked her hands away. "I ain't gonna hurt ya kid."

"It's not that. Bad stuff happens to people when they touch my skin." She paused. "I'm Rogue."

"Logan." He muttered.

"You were in the army? That's what the dog tags mean?" She asked.

He looked down and put the dog tags in his shirt. "Yeah, sure, kid."

They were silent for a few minutes. "You remind me of James."

He grunted and then, "Who's James?"

"He's my best friend's brother. He doesn't like people too much, not outside of his family anyways."

"Sounds like my kind of guy." He said a little sarcastically. Rogue had to smile and looked away from him. "What?"

"Nothin'." She said trying not to laugh. He reminded her too much of James it seemed.

Louisa put her finger over her blackened lips as she cracked the door to James's room. The man was asleep on the bed snoring, the bedding tangled around him. They snuck in crawling across the floor trying not to get their war paint on anything. The room seemed sort of tan colored with the shades drawn. They got up close to the bed and Louisa checked that he was really asleep before ducking down again. She held up one finger, two fingers, and three. "AUGGHHH!" They shrieked jumped on him.

"GOD ALMIGHTY!" James roared awake.

Louisa and Marie laughed hysterically falling off the bed onto the floor and laughing about that.

"You two gave me a friggin' heart attack!" He yelled at them. More laughing. "You never wake up a man when he's asleep!"

"We so got ya!" Marie giggled.

James scratched his bare chest groggily. "Oh you think yer so damn cute."

"We are." Louisa said grinning happily.

Well, it wasn't like he didn't deserve it. He had scared the crap out of both of them after they watched a scary movie on TV late at night. It had been funny then. He knew he deserved it though and he was actually pretty proud of them for thinking it up. "What time is it?"

"Six."

He rolled his eyes groaning. "Get out, I got six more hours comin'." And with that he flopped back down. They got up giggling. "Hey, where's ma kisses?" They giggled more and kissed his cheek.


	5. Chapter 5

Of course Rogue wouldn't think about doing that to Logan…he could react worse…much worse. She heard a sound from the sleeping trailer in the back of Logan's truck. A curvy blonde woman slipped through the opening between the cab and the trailer. She yawned and hardly glanced at Rogue as she sat down in the middle between them and cuddled up to Logan. He kissed the side of her head quickly keeping his eyes on the road. She fell asleep again, her head on his shoulder. Rogue looked over at the woman, but couldn't help but think she was probably no older than she was. His daughter? Wife? Girlfriend? It was hard to say. And Logan wasn't supplying any answers at the moment.

"You should have your seatbelt on." Rogue said.

"Hey, kid, don't tell me how to drive." He told her just as they hit a tree that had been knocked down into the road. Logan flew out of the window.

Rogue screamed and the girl next to her yawned tiredly blinking and looking around. "You ok, honey?"

"My seat belt's stuck," She admitted trying to get it off.

"Yeah, that happens."

The girl was so calm. "Uh, he just flew out of the window…"

She looked up and through the now broken windshield and then back to the girl. "He's fine."

He's fine? Was this girl insane? Logan got up and cracked his neck. The cut in his forehead completely disappeared as she watched. "You ok, kid? Kaeli?"

"We're fine!" The woman called back unconcerned. "Her seat belt is just…oh god!"

"What? Kaeli!" Logan called. "What is it?"

"Fire!"

"Damn it." He muttered running for the truck, before he could get there though a large blonde man with matted fur attacked him. "We've gone through this before." Logan growled.

Kaeli sliced the seat belt with claws that just appeared out of her hands and then she was out of the truck laying into the blonde man. He brushed her off and threw Logan onto the hood of the car hard. He was out. "Can't you just leave us alone?" Kaeli yelled.

The wind picked up and they both turned to see two people standing in the road in front of them. A black woman with white hair that seemed to be controlling the wind and a man that blasted something red from his eyes at the man, before they came over and the woman helped Rogue from the truck and the man took Logan from on top of the truck before it blew up.


	6. Chapter 6

Rogue sat in the sterile room with a redheaded woman, who was looking after Logan, Kaeli, and herself. Kaeli wouldn't let the woman touch her though, and she was very protective of Logan. She was tolerating the woman helping, but that was all. Her large golden eyes watching the woman like a hawk.

The doors opened. "I'm Ororo." The tall dark-skinned woman with white hair said. She had been one of the ones that came to 'help' them.

"Rogue," The girl said and seeing Kaeli wasn't about to say anything: "This is Kaeli."

"Hello, Rogue, Kaeli." She nodded. "I'm here to take you to your room."

"Sharing a room?" Kaeli growled.

"Yes," she nodded again. "There are three other girls there at the moment. I'm sure you'll be comfortable."

"I don't share." The golden-haired girl said flatly.

"It's just for tonight." The woman said trying to placate her.

The room was large enough for six beds, but only had five in it at the moment, a dresser by each and a nightstand. There were also two closets. The bathroom was down the hall. Kaeli sat on her bed scowling while Ororo was telling them things and putting clothes in drawers for them. "It's not so bad, Kaeli. It's just for the night."

"I don't share."

Ororo sighed just knowing this girl was going to be trouble. "Logan will be fine, Kaeli."

"Yeah, I know."

"Sabretooth was dealt with. I don't think he'll try it again." Kaeli looked at her not looking happy. "He tried to kill him."

"You're all idiots."

Ororo looked greatly surprised. "I'm sorry?"

"We didn't need your help. You interfered." Kaeli stood and sauntered out of the room. "I bet you don't have to share a room."

Rogue understood not wanting to share a room, but she doubted it was for the same reasons she had. She didn't want to accidentally touch someone. Sleepovers with Louisa had been fun. They would cuddle up and share secrets and talk about their trip around the world. That was before though. And now she couldn't cuddle up with anyone. It was impossible and probably always would be.

She heard voices in the hallway and the door opened. "Hello, girls, you have some new roommates."

"Roommates?"

"Yes," Ororo said. "Uh, Kaeli left, she's a bit…"

"She doesn't want ta share." Rogue said from where she was looking out the window.

"Marie?"

Rogue's heart almost stopped. She had thought never to hear that voice again. Slowly she turned from the window to see her best friend.


End file.
